


Chasing Chase

by StopIWantToTalkAboutCheese



Series: MISSING: Tales From the Life of a Private Investigator [8]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Book 3: The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson), Mortal Character - Freeform, POV Outsider, The Mist - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:40:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29826489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StopIWantToTalkAboutCheese/pseuds/StopIWantToTalkAboutCheese
Summary: Dust.Dust, dust, dust.That was all Luka could find.You’d think a thirteen-year-old girl would be easier to find.But no.Luka had been on the tail of one Annabeth Chase for nearly two hours now, and so far, he hadnothing.Of course, she had been running away from people since she was seven, so she must be pretty good at it by now.
Series: MISSING: Tales From the Life of a Private Investigator [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1911502
Comments: 8
Kudos: 32





	Chasing Chase

Dust.

Dust, dust, dust.

That was all Luka could find.

You’d think a thirteen-year-old girl would be easier to find.

But no.

Luka had been on the tail of one Annabeth Chase for nearly two hours now, and so far, he had _nothing._

Of course, she had been running away from people since she was seven, so she must be pretty good at it by now.

Anyway.

It had all started when he had been working on a case up in Bar Harbor, Maine. For once, it wasn’t about a vanished child with a creepy backstory. No, he had been investigating a cheating case for a teacher at the Westover Hall military academy, and been _bored out of his mind._

Luka glanced around the gym. Two kids, both with black hair, were huddled in the corner. The girl was fidgeting nervously, and looked sort of like she wanted to flee the premises as soon as humanly possible. The boy seemed to be playing some kind of card game, probably Pokémon or something. Cute. Around the gym, there were couples pairing up, in that awkward, thirteen-year-old way.

Luka sipped his lukewarm punch and scanned the gym.

And that’s when he saw her.

Annabeth Chase.

At first, Luka hadn’t even been sure it was her, but he knew that it must be. Several years ago, he had been approached to try to find the kid, before she was found at twelve years old. He’d seen her everywhere– missing person posters, milk cartons, his own case files.

That was Annabeth Chase. He’d bet his life on it. And she was dancing with a boy, too– Luka couldn’t see the kid’s face very well, but Annabeth looked happy.

_Well, it’s good that she’s okay ._

Luka took another sip of his drink and returned to scanning the gym for his cheating case.

Later on, he would regret that.

* * *

“What do you mean, they’re _gone?”_ Luka asked, amazed.

The voice on the other end of the line groaned. “Aren’t you a PI?”

“Sure,” Luka said.

“And weren’t you at the gym last night?”

“I guess.”

“Well, look, two of my students are gone, and I need ‘em tracked down.”

Luka blinked. He rubbed at his forehead. “So, just to clarify, are you asking me because I’m a private investigator, or because I was a strange man at a middle school dance?”

The other voice paused. Clearly, he hadn’t thought about it too hard before calling Luka up.

“Um, the first one?” he said, but now he sounded uneasy.

“I didn’t kidnap them,” Luka said. “Just so you know.”

“Oh, good,” the man said, sounding relieved, and Luka wanted to smack his head through his desk. Was that seriously all it took? _I didn’t kidnap them, just so you know?_ No wonder he lost the kids; the man was clearly a moron. 

“So, these kids we’re missing,” the idiot on the other end said. “Their names are Bianca and Nick DiAngelo. Oh, wait. Nico, his name’s Nico.”

“...Okay,” Luka said, when the man said nothing more. “I need more than that.”

“What? Can’t you just put ‘em into a database or something?”

“...No.”

“Damn it.” Luka heard shuffling on the other end, and then a heavy sigh. “Well, there’s another thing, anyway. We think another kid’s missing, too, she left right after the DiAngelo kids and never came back. Caught her on tape and everything.”

“Who?”

“Oh, I looked her up. Her name’s Annabeth Chase. She–”

Luka did a double-take. “Did you say _Annabeth Chase?”_

“Oh, yeah, we found her number and tried calling her parents, but nobody picked up. We’ll keep trying. She’s not a student, you know. It’s not my fault she went missing, so you can’t sue me for that. And, hey, you’ll keep this DiAngelo situation on the down low, won’t you? We’re strapped for money as it is. I can’t afford a lawsuit.”

“Strapped for– hang on. Am I getting paid for this?” Luka asked, suddenly alarmed.

“Umm… Umm… I– I– can’t hear you! Think there’s an issue with the connection.” 

"You–"

_Click._

Luka blinked.

He redialed.

There was no answer.

“Seriously?” he said out loud.

He shouldn’t do it. He really, really shouldn’t. He had other things to work on– things that he would actually be _paid_ for.

He really shouldn’t.

But Annabeth Chase was there. And she was a mystery.

And Luka loved mysteries.

Well, why the hell not? He didn’t have any (interesting) cases at the moment, and Anthony was dealing with something or other in Brooklyn– he hadn’t been too clear on the details– so maybe he could dedicate some time to this. Figure it all out.

Because it was _just so weird._

Annabeth had not left the school through the front doors. She had not left the school through the back doors. Neither had the DiAngelo children.

So just _how the heck_ had they managed to leave? Flew? 

He had managed to get his hands on some security tapes from that night– after all, he still had a cheating case to solve– but they cleared up precisely nothing, about _either_ case, which was… not awesome. 

Plus, there had been one weird aspect of the Chase case six years ago, and that same thing was cropping up now.

Dust.

Literal dust.

The kid just… left it in her wake. Piles of it. The kid left it lying around like it was her job or something. Who did she think she was, anyway? Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

And there was blood, too, of course. A good deal of it. 

Actually, now that he thought about it, a _lot_ of kids Luka had the misfortune of tailing over the years had left dust and blood all over the place.

Weird.

It meant something. Luka was sure of it.

But _what?_

He had to go through the tapes again, keep an eye on Chase and the DiAngelos. Maybe he missed something.

Grumbling, Luka hit PLAY.

Awkward dancing… kids shooting hoops in the corner… adults drinking punch in the corner looking like they wanted to be anywhere but there… 

Hang on.

Luka stopped the tape. He zoomed in.

_Is… is that…?_

Was that _Thalia Grace?_

And there– right beside her– that couldn’t be _Percy Jackson,_ could it?

 _Could_ it?

No. No, it was too much of a coincidence. _Right?_ Right. Yeah. Too much of a coincidence.

...Right?

Maybe he should call the school back.

He dialed, and waited.

“Hello?” a voice said. The principal. Great.

“Look, I need more to go on,” Luka said without preamble. “I can’t work with nothing but a description. Who are these kids’ parents? Who pays their tuition? Heck, what school did they go to before this? And for that matter, do you happen to know a kid named Thalia Grace, because she _also_ vanished–”

“I’m sorry, the principal said, “but who… who is this?”

“Oh, this is Luka–”

“Right, yes,” the principal said, still sounding confused. “The… the private investigator, yes, I remember.”

“...Yeah,” Luka said, when it was clear the man wasn’t going to continue. “So, I need more info on the DiAngelo kids, they–”

“Who?”

“What do you mean, _who?”_ Luka snapped. “The kids, the DiAngelo kids, and Annabeth Chase. C’mon.”

“There’s nobody registered under that name at this school,” the principal said.

“What? What do you mean there’s nobody–? _You asked me to find them!”_

“I’m sorry,” the principal said. “I think you might have the wrong number.”

“But–” Luka tried.

“Goodbye,” said the principal.

“Wai–”

_Click._

_Why, you little–_

With a heroic effort, Luka resisted throwing his phone across the room, and instead set it down gently.

Okay, so the principal was an idiot, that much was obvious. Who _forgets_ about two missing children? 

And why, why, why, _why_ had so many of the kids Luka had been following been in one place?

Maybe he should go back to the school, check things out. The DiAngelo kids had definitely been there, that was no mistake Maybe there was some issue at the school, like a broken carbon monoxide detector or something, that could be messing with the principal’s memory?

Luka picked up the phone again and dialed. He had a flight to schedule.

* * *

Luka stamped around in the Maine snow and wished he’d brought a heavier jacket. Or at least some proper shoes; he could feel his socks getting uncomfortably cold and wet.

There was nothing here. A fresh snowfall had obscured any clues that might have been found, and neither Annabeth Chase nor the DiAngelos had leapt out of the bushes yet to shout “Surprise!” so at least he could rule “annoying pranksters” out.

Wait.

There _was_ something poking out of the snow.

Small. Rectangular. Angled as if it had fallen out of a pocket, or been dropped accidentally.

Luka bent, and picked it up.

...It was a business card.

It read:

_**Camp Half-Blood  
** Half Blood Hill  
Long Island, NY  
(800)-009-0009 _

Luka looked it over. He studied the phone number.

Well, _that_ was the fakest number he’d ever seen in his life. Shrugging, he dropped it into his pocket. Maybe he could check it out later.

Then he checked his watch and cursed.

His flight back to New York was in under an hour.

He had to get to the airport.

Tightening his scarf and trying not to slip on the ice, Luka hurried back towards the door, putting the business card out of his mind.

For the moment, anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> What did you think?
> 
> (If y'all like my stuff, feel free to check out the rest of my PJO/HOO works! I have a [oneshot about Luke,](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26094706) a [multichapter fic about a time-travelling Thalia](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25413457/chapters/61631419), and a "5 times" fic about [Piper and Shel (from ToA)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26980900)). 
> 
> If that's not your thing, don't feel pressured to read, just wanted to throw it out there. :)


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